Since She Has Gone Away

I thought I’d do a lot of work

     If she would go away;

I’d toil and slave just like a Turk

     If she would go away.

I thought the rest would do her good,

To breathe the pure and wholesome wood;

Then take a rest I surely could,

     If she would go away.

I thought I’d have a peaceful smoke,

     If she would go away;

My chums would come and laugh and joke

     If she would go away.

I’d slip into a summer play,

I’d take a moonlight down the bay

Or linger in some swell café,

     If she would go away.

At first, perhaps, ‘twas well enough,

     When she had gone away;

Two days or so I kept the bluff,

     When she was far away.

I tried to think I didn’t care,

My chums said, “Ah, how debonair!”

But all the time I missed her there,

     Soon as she’d gone away.

And now the house is like a cell,

     Since she has gone away;

I do most everything but yell,

     Since she has gone away.

I wouldn’t write her I’m amiss

And spoil her sweet vacation bliss,

But kind of hope she may see this –

     And shorten up her stay!

June 8, ‘09